Trolley-retriever.



No. 843,761. PATENTED FEB. 12', 1907.

P. M. MILLER. TROLLBY RETRIEVBR APPLICATION FILED API BUZZ, 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 843,761. PATENTED FEB. 12, 1907.

P. M. MILLER. TROLLEY RETRIEVER.

APPLIOATIOK FILED APILZZ, 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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APPLIOATION FILED APR.22.1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- RS cm, WASHINGTON, n. c.

No. 843,761. PATENTED FEB 12, 1907'.

.P. M. MILLER. TROLLEY RETRIEVBR.

APPLICATION FILED APR.22.1905

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

FRANCIS M. MILLER, OF ARCADIA, INDIANA.

TROLLEY-RETRIEVER.

No. 8Q3,761.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1907.

Application filed April 22, 1905- Serial N0. 256,977.

1"0 all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Arcadia, in the county of Hamilton and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Retrievers, of which the follouing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in trolley-retrievers.

One object of the invention resides in the proiision of a comparatively simple, inexpensive, durable, and e'liicient device of the character stated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a trolley-retriever embodying such characteristics that it will promptly and efficientlyrespond to the demands made uponit.

A still further object is to improve the construction and arrangement of trolley-retiiever described and illustrated in the patent issued to me April 18, 1905, No. 787,527.

IYith these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being I understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a car provided with my improved device. Fig. 2 is a plan view of my device with the front of the casing removed, the mechanism being thrown out of operation. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating the mechanism in operative position. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view illustrating the pinion upon one end of one of the shafts disposed in a recess of the toothed rack of the hollow drum. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line a a of Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional flew on the line b b of Fig. 3. Fig. 9 is a longitudinal fragmentary view, partly in elevation and partly in section, illustrating particularly the mounting of the leg 6 of the Ushaped frame and the connections between the leg and the slidable member for elevating one of the horizontal shafts and lifting the pivoted trip-arm out of the recess of its support. Fig. 10 is a top plan view of a portion of the device, illustrating particularly the mounting of the bar 65.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the reference character 1 designates a suitable casing for my device, which is boX-shaped and secured by any suitable means to the dash of a car, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

The reference character 2 designates a U- shaped frame located between the side of the casing 1 and the partition 3, one leg of said U-shaped frame having a bearing-block 4, pivotally mounted in a recess therein by means of a suitable pivot-pin 5, the other leg 6 of said frame 2 bearing against the partition 3 and being adapted to slide therein when said frame is swung in the manner hereinafter explained, and, if desirable, said leg 6 of the frame may be slidably mounted in the recess 6 of the partition 3. 7 is a tension-spring normally holding said frame 2 in the tilted position shown in Fig. 2. The character 8 designates a hollow drum revolubly mounted in said frame.

9 is a bearing-block mounted on a pin 10 in a suitable recess in the leg 6 of the frame 2 and adapted to receive the corresponding end of the axle of the drum 8 to prevent the movements of the leg 6 from displacing the axle from its bearing. 11 is a pivoted pawl provided with a projection 12, adapted to engage a notch 13 in said drum 8 when lowered, thus preventing rotation of the said drum, the pawl being pivoted to the partiticn 3, which latter may or may not be of a double thickness, as shown. This pawl 11 is constructed and arranged to rest upon said drum, it being obvious that when the latter is raised said pawl will also be raised upon its pivot, thereby disengaging the projection 12 from said notch 13 in the drum and permitting rotation of the same. 14 is a smaller drum revolubly mounted within said drum 8 and provided with a coiled spring 15, se cured thereto at one end and having its other end secured to the drum 8 in any suitable manner, whereby said smaller drum is allowed only a limited amount of rotation against the action or tension of said spring to allow enough play of the trolley-rope 16, secured thereto, to respond to the irregularities in the heightof the trolley-wire. The character 16 designates a series of teeth eXtending around said drum 8 from the projection 17 to the notch 18, said teeth being adapted to mesh with a pinion 19 when the latter and the drum 8 are brought into engagement with each other, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The pinion 19 is mounted on a shaft 20,'extend ing through the aforesaid partition 3, the said shaft being mounted for vertical movement in the elongated slot 21 at the upper end of the partition 3 and the free end thereof have ing a head 22, provided with a clutch-face 23, the said head 22 having an annular groove 24 in its periphery for the reception of upper and lower clamping elements 25 and 26, (see Fig. 5,) which are secured together by means of suitable bolts 27 at each end thereof, the extremities 28 of the lowermost clamping element 26 being. pivotally engaged in the perforations or eyes of the cars 29, secured upon opposite sides of the-elongated slot 30, formed in the upper end of a second partition 31. It will thus be seen that the shaft 20 and its pinion and clutch-face are so associated with each other and arranged to permit of a longitudinal rocking movement thereof when operated upon in a manner to be hereinafter fully explained. Arranged between the side 32 of the casing 1 and the partition 31 and near the upper end thereof are oppositely-disposed spaced guide-blocks 33 and 34, (see Fig. 4,) each having a groove 35 and 36, formed, respectively, in its inner face. Bridging these guide blocks or rails 33 and 34 are two movable blocks 37 and 38, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 each having reduced opposite ends 39 and 40 for engagement in the aforesaid corresponding grooves 35 and 36, whereby the said blocks mayhave a slidable movement with respect to the said guide-rails 33 and 34. Extending through the side 32 of the casing 1 and also through the said sliding blocks 37 and 38 is a second shaft 41, whose inner end is provided with a head 42, having a clutch-face 43 for cooperation with the clutch-face 23 of the head 22 on the first-named shaft 20. This head 42 is provided with an annular groove 44, intermediate its ends, in which is engaged a semicircular head 45 of a lever 46, pivotally mounted at its lower end in a slot 47 of a short horizontal support 48, secured between the inner face of the side 32 and the second-named partition 31, the second shaft 41 being connected by a suitable gearing 46 to the aXle of the car, as seen in Fig. 1, whereby, when desired, said shafts 20 and 41 and the pinion 19 may be continuously revolved while the car is in motion. Thus when the teeth on the said drum 8 are made to mesh with said pinion, as shown in Fig. 3, rotary motion will be imparted to said drum until the not-ch 18 arrives under the pinion 19, when the drum will cease its rotation, as shown in Fig. 2. The projection 17 is provided with a spring-snap 48, adapted to engage with a bar 49 to lock 1 said drum when said notch 18 arrives under pinion 19, as clearly shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

The reference character 50 is a supportingbar pivoted to the frame 2 by means of a suitable pivot-pin 51 and adapted when in a vertical position to support said frame in a raised position, the character 52 designating a helical or other spring designed to normally hold said bar 50 in a vertical position, the ends of the said spring being connected, respectively, to the supporting-bar and the partition 31.

The lever 53 is pivoted at its lower end to the pivoted arm 54 and intermediate its ends by means of a suitable pivot-pin or the like 55 to the cross-bar 56, whichlatter is connected in any suitable manner to the corresponding faces of the partitions 3 and 31. The pivoted arm 54 is adapted to trip the supporting-bar 50 to permit the frame 2 to fall, there being a helical or other spring 57 normally holding said lever in the position shown in Fig. 3.

It will be understood that one end of the axle of the drum 8 is designed to rise and fall, and consequently throw the teeth of the drum 8 into and out of operative relation with the pinion 19. To accomplish this movement of the drum 8, the leg 6 of the aforesaid drum 2 is provided with a projection 58 near its lower end for passage through the slot 60 in the partition 3, there being a slidable member 62, connected to the free end of said projection 58, with a suitable key a to prevent disengagement of the said sliding member 62 from said projection.

The upper end of the sliding member 62 passes through a guide 63 and has its upper end bifurcated, as at 64, to embrace the firstnamed shaft 20 and to raise the latter in the operation of my device. A projection 59 is secured to the outer face of the sliding member 62 and is so arranged that when the sliding member 62 is raised, as just eX- plained, its said projection 59 will engage the under face of the transverse arm 65, which is pivoted at one end to the support 66, and lift the arm out of its normal position in the notch 68 of the support 69 (see Fig. 2) against the action of the spring 70, the latter being mounted upon the support 71. When the arm is in the notch 68, the link 72, pivotally connecting both the arm 65 and lever 46, which latter is pivotally mounted at one end in the support 48 with its opposite end having operative engagement with the head 42 of the s ring-actuated shaft 41, is moved backward y upon its pivot to assume the position shown in Fig. 2. In the upward movement of the sliding member 62 its projection 59 raises the arm 65 out of the notch 68, as stated, and the spring-actuated shaft 41 will immediately move forward, causing the lever 46 and the arm 65 to as- IIC sume the positions shown in Fig. 3 to permit i ond shaft mounted for cooperation with the of the operative engagement of the clutchfaces 23 and 43 of the heads 22 and 42, respectively. As shown in Fig. 10, it is the free end only of the arm 65 that engages the notch 68. The reference characters 73 and 74 designate rollers over which the trolleyrope slides and which prevent undue wear on the rope.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The parts being in the position shown in Fig. 2 and the large drum being locked, the inner drum is allowed enough rotation by the spring to permit the trolley-rope to respond to the irregularities in the height of the trolleywire but when the trolley-wheel jumps the wire the rope might unwind from the drum 14 and exert a pull on the same, which pull raises the frame 2 and the drum 8, causing the teeth 16 of the latter to engage the pinion 19. Such engagement of said teeth and pinion causes the latter to move upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 3, where it will be seen that the shafts and 11 are operatively engaged with each other. Then the parts are assembled in the position shown in Fig. 3, the projection 58 of the leg 6 of the frame 2 causes upward movement of the sliding member 62,which latter in its upward movement presents its projection 59 to the under face of the arm and raises the latter out of the notch 68 to permit of the cluteh-faces 23 and 4-3 of the shafts 20 andtl to operatively connect said shafts together. Just as soon as the parts are operatively connected the drum 8 will be set in motion, as hereinbefore explained, to wind the rope 16 thereupon, and thus pull down the trolleypole until the notch 18 of the drum 8 arrives under the pawl 11 when the drum will cease to rotate and will be locked against accidenthe bar 49. \Vhen it is desired to lift the pol: and replace the wheel on the wire, the lever 53 is thrown toward the arm 65 to throw it into the notch 68 and causing the part 54 of the arm 53 to trip the bar 50 and drop the frame 2. The dropping of the frame allows the drum 8 to fall, whereupon said drum will be unlocked and permit the rope 16 to be withdrawn therefrom, such manipulation of the lever also effecting a disengagement of the clutch-faces 23 and 43 of the shafts 20 and 40, respectively, by reason of the dropping of the sliding member 62 with the frame 2. hen the rope 16 has been withdrawn, the drum 8 will again be locked by the pawl 11, and after the trol ey-wheel has been replaced on the wire the drum 14-will be rotated by the spring 15, which has been held under tension, to take up the slack of the rope 16.

I/Vh at is claimed is 1. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casing secured to the car, of a'continuously-revolving shaft mounted therein, a secfirst-named shaft, a pinion carried by the second shaft, a drum revolubly mounted in said casing and provided with ratchet-teeth, means for automatically tlmowing said pinion and ratchet-teeth into engagement, means for automatically locking said drum when the trolley-pole has been drawn down, and means for releasing said drum.

2. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casing secured to the car, of a continuously-revolving shaft mounted therein, a second shaft arranged for cooperation with the first shaft, a drum revolubly mounted in said casing, the said second shaft carrying a pinion, nieans whereby said drum will pern' it a liniited play of the trolley-rope, ratchetteeth on said drum, means for automatically throwing said pinion and ratchet-teeth into engagement, means for automatically looking said drum when the trolley-pole has been drawn down, and means for releasing said drum.

3. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casin secured to the car, of a continuously-revolving shaft mounted therein, a drum revolubly mounted in said casing and provided with ratchet-teeth, a second shaft mounted within the casing for cooperation with the firstnamed shaft, said second shaft carrying a pinion, means for locking said drum, a smaller drum revolubly mounted within the larger drum, the amount of rotation of said smaller drum being limited, 1r. eans for automatically unlocking said larger drum, and throwing the teeth thereof into engagerr ent with said pinion, means for automatically locking said larger drum when the trolley-pole has been drawn down, and means for releasing said drum to permit the I trolley-rope to be unwound therefrom. tal rotation by the spring-snap 48 engagin 4. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casing secured to the car, of a continuouslyrotating shaft mounted therein, a second shaft arranged for detachable engage- 1r ent with the first shaft for cooperation therewith, said second shaft carrying a pinion, a frame hinged to and within said casing and normally retained in a lowered position, a drum revolubly mounted in said frame and provided with ratchet-teeth, means for automatically raising said frame to throw the teeth on said drum into engagement with said pinion, means for automatically locking said drum when the trolley-pole has been drawn down, and means for releasing said drum.

5. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casing secured to the car, of a continuously-revolvin shaft mounted therein, a second shaft arranged for detachable engagement with the first shaft for cooperation therewith, said second shaft carrying a pinion, a frame hinged to and within said casing and normally retained in a lowered position,

a drum revolubly mounted in said frame, means whereby said drum will permit a lim ited play of the trolley-rope, ratchet-teeth on said drum, m eans for automatically raising said frame to throw said teeth on said drum into engagement with said pinion, means for automatically locking said drum when the trolley-pole has been drawn down, and

ieans for releasing said drum.

6. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casing secured to the car, of continuwithin said casing, and normally retained in a l lowered position, a drum revolubly mounted in said frame and provided with ratchetteeth, means for locking said drum when said frame is lowered, a smaller drum revolubly mounted in said larger drum, the amount of rotation of said smaller drum being limited,

means for autom atically unl ocking said drum, and raising said frame to throw the teeth on said drum into engagement with said pinion, means for automatically locking said larger drum when the trolley-pole has been drawn down, and means for releasing said drum.

7. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casing secured to the car, of a continuously-rotating revolving shaft mounted therein, a second shaft arranged for detachable engagement with the first shaft for cooperation therewith, the said second shaft carrying a pinion, a drum revolubly mounted in said casing, a series of ratchet-teeth extending partially around. said drum, said drum being provided with a notch between the terminals of said series of teeth, means for automatically throwing said drum and ratchet-teeth into engagement, means for automatically locking said drum when said notch arrives under said pinion, and means for releasing said. drum.

8. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casing secured to the car, of a continuously-revolving shaft mounted therein, a second shaft mounted within the casing for cooperation with the first-named shaft, said second shaft carrying a pini on, a drum revolubly mounted in said casing, a series of ratchetteeth extending partially around said drum, said drum being provided with a notch between the terminals of said series of teeth, means for locking said drum, a smaller drum revolubly mounted in said larger drum the rotation of said smaller drum being limited, means for automatically unlocking said larger drum and throwing the teeth thereof into engagement with said pinion, means for automatically looking said larger drum when said. notch arrives under said pinion and means for releasing said drum, substantially as and for the purpose desorib ed.

9. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casing secured to the car, of a continuously-revolving shaft mounted therein, a second shaft mounted within the casing for detachable engagement and cooperation with the first shaft, said second shaft carrying a pinion, a frame hinged to and within said casing and normally retained in a lowered position, a drum revolubly mounted in said frame, a series of ratchet-teeth extending partially around said drum, said drum being provided with anotch between the terminals of said se ries of teeth, means for automatically raising said frame to throw said teeth into engagement with said pinion, means for automatically locking said drum when said notch arrives nude: said pinion and means for releasing said drum, substantially as and for the purpose described.

10. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casing secured to the car, of a continuously-rotating shaft mounted therein, said shaft having a clutching-face at one end, a second shaft mounted within the frame and having a clutch-face for engagement with the clutoh-face of the first shaft, a pinion carried by the second shaft, a drum' revolubly mounted in said casing and provided with ratchet-teeth, means for automatically throwing said pinion and ratchet-teeth into and out of engagement, means for automatically locking said drum when the trolley-pole has been drawn down, means for releasing said drum, and means for throwing the aforesaid clutch-faces into and out of operative engagement.

11. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casing secured to the car, of a oon tinuously-rotating shaft mounted therein, the

said shaft having a clutch-face at one end, a second shaft mounted within the casing and having a clutch-face for engagement with the clutch-face of the said first shaft, a pinion carried by the said second shaft, a drum revolubly mounted in said casing and provided with ratchet-teeth, means for throwing said pinion and ratchet-teeth into and out of engagement, means for locking said drum when the trolley-pole has been drawn down, means for releasing said drum, and means for automatically throwing the said clutch-faces into and out of operative engagement.

12. In a trolley-retriever, the combination with a casing secured to the car, of a continuousiy-revolving shaft mounted therein, said shaft having a clutch-face at one end, a second shaft mounted within the casing and having a clutch-face at one end for cooperation with the clutcl1face of the first shaft, said second shaft having a rocking movement within the frame and carrying a pinion at one end adapted to aise and lower with the rocking movement of its shaft, a drum revolubly mounted in said casing and provided with ratchetteeth, means for automatically throwing said pinion and ratchet-teeth into and out of engagement, means for automatically locking said drum when the trolley-pole has been thrown down, means for releasing said drum, and means for automatically throwing the aforesaid clutch-faces into and out of operative relation with each other. I

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

FRANCIS M. MILLER.

Witnesses:

C. W. FOWLER, GEO. C. SHOEMAKER. 

